Reconnection
by Prophetic Fire
Summary: "You don't have to do that, you know." "Do what?" "Keep trying to be my mom. You don't have to do that." (Part 3 of the Reunion Series)


"You should eat something," she says, holding out the pouch of dried meat. "You haven't eaten all day."

Soren doesn't turn from scanning the horizon. With Viren curled up asleep, and herself sitting beside the dying embers, Soren is the tallest thing on these wide, flat Xadian plains. His silhouette is a sharp, dark void against the wash of stars in the sky.

"You don't have to do that, you know."

"Do what?"

"Keep trying to be my mom. You don't have to do that."

His voice floats quietly over their camp. But soft as it is, it's cutting. Of course Soren would see it like that. She's been gone for half his life.

He's grown up so much in that time. Such a far cry from the tiny boy who struggled to hold up his first full-sized sword. Who crawled into bed with her and Viren during thunderstorms. He wears his armor—and his confidence—like a second skin now, strong and sure.

She sets the food bag down and holds up the water skin. "At least drink something."

There's a pause, but eventually Soren comes to sit beside her, taking the water skin.

"This is weird," he finally says.

"What's weird?"

"Just…you, and Dad. _Here_. And not arguing. And pretending like everything's normal. Like you haven't been gone for so long. And like Dad didn't ask me to do some really bad stuff and then _lie_ to me about it. I'm not stupid. I know it's important that we find Claudia and save her from this Aaravos elf-guy, but this whole thing with you and Dad is just…weird."

He takes a sip from the water skin and hands it back. They lapse into silence once more.

What can she say? He's not wrong. This whole journey, she and Viren had been trying their best to work together, and present a unified front for Soren. She'd thought they'd been doing a decent job, but this has clearly been weighing on her son's mind for some time. She'd known seeing her children again wouldn't be perfect sunshine and flowers. Still, it hurts to see the cracks in their relationship. And to think that trying to fill her old role as their mother might not be the best way to mend them.

"There…_are_ things," she says at long last, in her careful, precise voice, "that your father and I could have, and should have, done differently. We can't change what's done, and I can't speak for your father's actions. You are my son, and I love you, but I see how _my_ choices have hurt you. I'm… I'm very sorry."

Next to her, Soren sighs. She hazards a glance at him out of the corner of her eye. In the faint glow of the embers, she can't make out the expression on his face. She decides to continue.

"If… If after all this is over, and we save your sister, you don't feel comfortable with me in your life, I understand."

She hears Soren's breath catch.

"_But_," she presses on, not sure if Soren's reaction is a bad one, hoping that it means something good, "if you do feel comfortable, I would love the opportunity to get to know you again."

There are so many more words she needs to say to him. But now isn't the right time. She waits, hardly daring to move, to see if her son will respond. Time seems to stretch out, as endless as the starry sky above them, as vast as the deep quiet of the slumbering plains. She's reminded of the long and silent journey she took back to Del Bar, after she'd left her husband and her children. Time had gone on forever then, too.

Finally, Soren shifts, and she suddenly feels his arms around her. For the briefest moment, his head comes to rest on her shoulder. _"Thanks Mom,"_ he whispers. She can hear the emotion in his voice. Then, just as quickly, he lets go, and gets to his feet again.

He resumes his post and turns toward the horizon, once more a dark silhouette against the splash of stars. She crawls into her bedroll. She'll be woken soon enough for her turn on watch, but she thinks that tonight, she might—she _might_—actually get some good sleep.

She's barely closed her eyes when she hears her son's voice again.

"Hey, hey Mom? Can you toss me the meat bag?"


End file.
